Analysis of To a Billy
James Lister Cuthbertson 1851 – 1910
OLD BILLY—battered, brown and black
With many days of camping,
Companion of the bulging sack,
And friend in all our tramping:
How often on the Friday night—
Your cubic measure testing—
With jam and tea we stuffed you tight
Before we started nesting!
How often, in the moonlight pale,
Through gums and gullies toiling,
We’ve been the first the hill to scale,
The first to watch you boiling;
When at the lane the tent was spread
The silver wattle under,
And early shafts of rosy red
Cleft sea-born mists asunder!
And so, old Billy, you recall
A host of sun-burnt faces,
And bring us back again to all
The best of camping places.
True flavour of the bush you bear,
Of camp and its surrounding,
Of freedom and of open air,
Of healthy life abounding.
You bring us more—with those we love
We watched you boil and bubble,
And in the sunny skies above
Forgot each schoolboy trouble
So not without a kindly glance
We eye you in the study,
Although you’ve met with some mischance,
Although you’re black and muddy!
Scheme | ABABCBCBDBDBEFEF GHGHIBIB JKJKXLHL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11010101 1101110 01010101 01011010 11010101 1101010 11011111 0111010 1100011 1101010 11010111 0111110 11010111 0101010 01011101 1111010 0111011 0111110 01110111 0111010 1110111 1101010 11001101 1101010 11111111 1111010 00010101 011110 11010101 1110010 111111 111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,045 |
Words | 183 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 263 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 60 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 54 sec read
- 57 Views
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"To a Billy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20229/to-a-billy>.
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